


Falling Slowly

by Malathyne



Category: Fable (Video Games), Fable 3 (Video Game)
Genre: Difficult Decisions, Execution, Gen, Nightmares, Possession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-04
Updated: 2014-06-04
Packaged: 2018-02-03 09:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1740020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malathyne/pseuds/Malathyne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Congrats on your coronation, Hero! Now, decide whether or not your big brother deserves to die!"</p>
<p>"Shut up, Crawler. No one cares what you think."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling Slowly

**Author's Note:**

> _Take this sinking boat and point it home_   
> _We've still got time_   
> _Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice_   
> _You've made it now_

"All stand to attention for the Queen of Albion."

Walter's deep voice managed to carry across the crowd as they shouted and cheered. Emma walked down the aisle towards the throne. Before, it had been her mother's throne, her brother's throne. Now, it was hers. She wished she could join the crowd's enthusiasm, but it felt as though her stomach was filled with cold, heavy stone as she took her place at the head of the throne room.

When Logan was led in, the crowd changed. Their shouts grew hostile and their jeers mingled together until it was an incomprehensible tangle of fury. He looked up, and for a moment, the siblings' eyes met. The stone in Emma's stomach gave way to the churning of her nerves and she lowered her gaze, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. Her hands clasped together. The queenly gloves she wore were soft, velvety, gentle. The fabric crinkled uncomfortably under her clenched fingers.

"Logan," Walter was saying, "former king of Albion, you stand accused today of crimes against the kingdom and its people. Those who brought you to justice will now speak -- "

Sabine cut in immediately, before Walter could even finish his inflection. "There's not a soul alive in the kingdom who hasn't suffered for his glory. And plenty who've died for it." His voice was curt as ever, but there was a dark energy thrumming with his words. "I says, let him have some death of his own."

Ben stepped forward next, turning to address the throne. The longer he spoke, the faster and angrier the words came. "Look, I'm not one for lopping people's heads off, but we saw Major Swift _executed_ , like it was a bloody _circus act_. He deserves nothing less as far as I'm concerned."

"I've seen what Logan has done to this city," said Page, shifting her weight from one leg onto another. One hand sat fisted on her hip, and the other gestured widely. "People starving to death, children forced to work... Isn't it time to give the people rest from their suffering?"

"It is not my place to decide his fate." Kalin's voice was cool and even, but her eyes were dark and angry. "But his betrayal condemned many of my people to death. He promised us salvation and then left us to face the darkness alone."

"I had good reason to break that promise." Logan had been shifting the entire trial, looking as though he was having a hard time holding himself back, but finally, he could not remain quiet any longer. "And I had good reason for the crimes you claim I committed -- "

" _Claim?_ Ha!" crowed Sabine, slapping a hand on his thigh. "Isn't it clear as day?"

"Further proof that he's let his power go so far to his head that he's removed from the people," Page spat. "He doesn't understand their suffering."

"It is the Queen's decision." Again, Walter's voice carried over the noise. 

Emma looked up. Her eyes met Logan's again. His expression was unreadable, just as it always had been since he came back from Aurora. He did not look away.

"You have the power over life and death, sister," he said simply, and suddenly their positions were reversed and Elliot stood behind her, pleading to be executed. "Now choose."

Emma recoiled before she could catch herself. She closed her eyes, inhaled slowly, exhaled deeply through her nose, then shook her head. When she opened her eyes again, Logan was still watching her, as if she was the only person in the room. She wanted to throw up.

"You can't escape punishment for what you've done, Logan." The throne room was suddenly quiet, which she was grateful for, because she couldn't bring herself to raise her voice and didn't know if she could repeat herself if she went unheard. "I sentence you to death."

The look in his eyes then, the flicker of surprise then self-hatred then resignment, and he bowed his head --

The soldiers raised their guns with practiced timing, and it was almost beautiful, and fifteen-year-old Logan stood before them, shoulders set and chin held high --

And then the birds scattered into the sky --

And his body lay crumpled on the castle stairs --

Emma awoke with a jolt, startling the dog out of his own dream. Confused, he licked her hand sleepily. She lay there for a moment, chest heaving, trying to get her breathing under control. She closed her eyes to resist a fresh wave of nausea, but the Crawler's laughter echoed in her ears. She lost the battle and rolled out of bed, scrambling for the chamber pot so she wouldn't retch on the carpet.

When it was all said and done, she settled back on her haunches, feeling weak and shaky, but better. She ran her hands through her hair, pulling it loose from her sleeping braid. The dog licked her cheek, making her jump because she hadn't realized he'd moved off the bed.

For a moment, she thought she heard the Crawler laughing. Her teeth clenched and her hands balled so tight that later, when she was getting bathed for the trial, Jasper would ask her why her palms were bloodied.

"I'm okay," she told him, both the dog and Jasper, and she both times couldn't tell whether or not it was a lie. "It was just... a bad dream. That's all." Her anxieties over Logan's trial had followed her into her sleep, just as she had feared. But she could still feel those words leaving her lips...

"No," she said, too loudly for a room empty save for her dog. "No, I won't let this sink me."

When she sat in the throne room that day and her eyes met Logan's as he walked down the aisle, the Crawler's laughter echoed in her ears.

**Author's Note:**

> _Falling slowly, eyes that know me_   
> _And I can't go back_   
> _The moods that take me and erase me_   
> _And I'm painted black_
> 
> _Well, you have suffered enough_   
> _And warred with yourself_   
> _It's time that you won_


End file.
